When Should You Do Repotting Ornamental Plants? Know The Most Appropriate Way

Illustration of ornamental plant repotting (Unsplash/Kelly Sikkema)

JAKARTA – Repotting is replacing ornamental plant pots and tabulampots when they are in certain conditions. Often, repotting is considered complicated when it only requires three very easy steps.

Repotting serves to expand the place for plant roots to grow and provide nutrients after the old planting medium is no longer proper.

Then when should you do repotting on your favorite ornamental plants?

When the soil is not moist anymore

Soil as a growing medium for ornamental plants, needs to maintain moisture and contain organic elements that fertilize plants. When after watering the soil cannot maintain the humidity of the plant growing environment, it needs to be replaced with a new one.

Plant roots grow out of the pot

The second reason, when the plant roots are out of the pot, it is necessary to replace a larger living place. The goal is to care for it to thrive and sprout leaves or flower beautifully.

In addition to plant roots, consider the size of the plant. If the size of the plant is large, avoid choosing a pot that is too small because its growth will be stunted and the leaves are not fertile.

Illustration of a mint plant in need of repotting (Unsplash/Eleanor Chen)

Yellow leaf color

Are there any ornamental plants in your collection that have yellowish leaves? If it is usually a greener color, there is a possibility that the plant needs a more moist growing medium and a pot with good drainage.

Get to know plant characters

Types of plants that grow fast, such as betel ivory, jade plants, ficus, or rubber trees require repotting approximately once a year. Meanwhile, plants that are slow to grow, such as cacti, various bonsai plants, and monstera variegata need to be repotted once in 1.5 – 2 years.

How to do repotting also needs to fit. Here below are the steps.

What is the proper way of repotting?

Choose a bigger pot

The reason for the need for repotting is that the plant grows. In order for plants to continue to grow 'happy' and fertile, then choose a larger pot. Also, choose a pot with adequate drainage according to its size.

Prepare planting media

Plants don't like too dense soil. The best planting media, can be a mixture of soil, burnt husks, and compost. Can also use a planting medium called cocopeat. Cocopeat is a planting medium that has a high absorption capacity compared to soil and is made from organic materials.

Illustration of preparing planting media (Unsplash/Neslihan Gunaydin)

Move plants

How to move also need to be careful. First, loosen the planting medium so that it doesn't break. Then lift the plant from its base, clean the planting medium from the old pot that is still attached. Finally, place it in a new pot and fill it with the selected planting medium.

Flush with water

The most important thing to note, avoid splashing water with a heavy flow. Water with a slow flow because the plant roots have not gripped too tightly and the planting medium is not yet dense.